Army Copter Crashes Into Oklahoma Lake

AP

Published: November 24, 1990

LAWTON, Okla., Nov. 23—
An Army Reserves helicopter on a night training mission crashed into Lake Ellsworth and five crew members were pulled to safety on a fishing boat. A sixth was missing, the authorities said today.

The pilot, who was among the rescued, was wearing night goggles for a training exercise when the UH-1 helicopter crashed Thursday night, said Maj. Chuck Pope, a spokesman for Fort Sill, where the men were undergoing training.

Divers searched the southwestern Oklahoma lake this morning for the missing soldier. The Comanche County authorities said the helicopter was in about 15 feet of water.

The use of night vision goggles, which electronically enhance moonlight, has come under fire in recent years because some pilots say they limit peripheral vision and cause other problems. The Army says it has improved the goggles after they were blamed for a 1988 crash at Fort Campbell, Ky., that killed 17 soldiers.

The helicopter was part of 374th Air Ambulance Company based in Little Rock, Ark., Major Pope said. The lake is about 15 miles north of Fort Sill. The medical evacuation company had been activated for military action in the Persian Gulf.